


Driving Me Crazy

by Tayryns_Tower (tayryn)



Category: The Princess Diaries - All Media Types
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-24 20:48:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4934767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tayryn/pseuds/Tayryns_Tower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarisse and Joseph go for a drive... or three.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Drive Me Crazy Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LadyDuchess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyDuchess/gifts).



> This is a trilogy of stories.
> 
> Chapters 1 & 3 are written by my dear friend, the incredibly talented RevSue.
> 
> Chapter 2 is one originally written by my best friend for another fandom, and tweaked by me for Clarisse and Joseph (with her permission).

“Charlotte, I’m going driving today,” Queen Clarisse announced one chilly autumn morning after her grand-daughter and former daughter-in-law had returned to America following their first visit to Genovia.

“Driving? Should I call for Joseph? Or do you need ...?”

“No, not Joseph, I think. Actually I was hoping that YOU might assist me.”

Charlotte looked puzzled. “Of course, your Majesty, if there’s anything ...”

“I want to drive ... with you, to start.”

“Yes, so you said. Where did you wish to go?”

“Where doesn’t matter. Anywhere. Just around the palace, if necessary.” Then the queen smiled at the perplexed look on her assistant’s face. She elaborated further. “Remember a few months ago in San Francisco when the police were going to arrest Mia for being underage and driving with me when my licence expired forty-five years ago?”

“Yes,” Charlotte spoke cautiously, her eyes revealing the trepidation she was feeling as she began to process the strange request.

“Well, I’m going to get my driver’s licence again.”

“I don’t see a need for you to actually DRIVE, your Majesty. You’d be issued a new licence, I’m sure, if we just contacted the ...” Charlotte began.

Clarisse shook her head. “No. I want to do it properly, the way everyone ELSE has to. I just need a little brushing up. I WAS a good driver, you know.” Then she eyed Charlotte’s worried expression. “Don’t you trust me?”

“Oh, of COURSE I do!” Charlotte said quickly, masking her unease under a smile of false bravado. “It’s just ...”

“Just?”

“Well ... your sons both ...” Charlotte faltered.

Clarisse swallowed hard, pushing back the pain that still occasionally overwhelmed her. “Yes, I realize they were both killed in vehicular accidents, and that the cause reportedly was that they were not used to driving a vehicle. Don’t you see, Charlotte? I don’t want to be in the same situation. If, for some reason, I must drive, I want to be able to do it.”

“I can’t imagine that you ever would need to drive, your Majesty.”

Sighing, Clarisse put the horrific memories of her sons’ deaths out of her mind, and concentrated on persuading Charlotte. She instinctively knew that it would be much easier to convince Charlotte than Joseph. After several moments of earnest talking, she finally said, “Well, Charlotte, I AM the queen, and now I am ORDERING you to go with me.”

“Very well,” Charlotte reluctantly agreed, still leery of the prospect. “But I’m not going to be the one to tell Joseph, your Majesty.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Joseph is not my keeper. He has no need to know this sort of thing.”

“No, but he IS the head of your security team, and I’m not too sure he would approve of you driving.” It was obvious to Clarisse that Charlotte herself did not approve, either.

“You’re not still questioning my orders, are you, Charlotte?” Clarisse frowned at the younger woman.

“No! Oh no, your Majesty. I’m sorry. I just ...” Charlotte gave up the fight. “I’ll just get my jacket.”

The two walked out the door of the palace, Clarisse waving away the doorman and saying they didn’t need the car brought up as they were just going for a short walk. She grinned conspiratorially at Charlotte and whispered, “It’s none of his business WHERE we walk, is it?”

Charlotte directed her to the garage where the limousines were parked. The drivers and mechanics hastily shoved their coffee cups away and came to their feet when the two women walked in. 

“I find myself in need of a vehicle,” Clarisse announced regally. “Charlotte and I are going for a little drive.”

“Your Majesty, if I may offer my services as your driver ...” one of the men started to say.

Clarisse shook her head, smiling. “Thank you, but I am sure we can manage. You may all go about your business. Charlotte and I are perfectly capable of backing the vehicle out of here.” She stood waiting with the smile still on her face as the men looked at each other, then at the queen and her assistant, then, realizing she was waiting for them to vacate the premises and give the two women their privacy, they all filed out silently. “Now, Charlotte, shall we?”

Charlotte gulped audibly. “Do you want me to back the limousine out so you just have to start going forward? I mean, there are other limousines in here ...”

Fixing her with a stern eye and raised eyebrows, Clarisse quelled Charlotte’s misgivings along with her own and made her way to the driver’s door. Getting in, she settled in the seat, her hands on the wheel, and her smile grew as she looked over at Charlotte. “This should be fun, don’t you think?” Seeing Charlotte’s face pale, Clarisse sobered immediately. “Don’t answer that,” she ordered briskly. “Now, then ...” she began, looking around at the control panel and then peering at the pedals. “Charlotte, I do believe this car isn’t all here. I realize that it has been forty-five years since I last sat behind the wheel of a car, but I DO know that there are supposed to be three pedals. Where is the other one? You know the one I mean, don’t you?”

“The other pedal? Your Majesty, this car has only two pedals. One is the gas and the other is the brake.”

“No, there’s another, but I can’t remember what it is called. It had something to do with the stick thingy here ...” Clarisse fumbled at her side, then said, “which isn’t here either! Charlotte, I can’t possibly drive this car! It doesn’t have all the pieces! How does anyone drive such a thing?” 

Suddenly Charlotte dimpled as she smiled. “It’ll be all right, your Majesty. It’s easier now than when you first learned to drive. The vehicle does the shifting through the gears automatically. That’s why it’s called an automatic, as opposed to a standard, which is all they had back ...”

“Please, Charlotte, stop casting my age up to me.” Clarisse broke in. She started the car, a pleased and almost smug expression crossing her face as the engine roared into life, then she struggled to move the gearshift.

“I believe you need your foot on the brake to change gears, your Majesty,” Charlotte ventured.

“Thank you. And, Charlotte, you are supposed to be instructing me, not letting me find things out on their own.”

“Very well, then, your Majesty. You also need to put on your seatbelt.”

“Seatbelt? That’s just a bally nuisance!” Clarisse tossed her head. “I don’t wear one when I sit in the back. Be reasonable, Charlotte!”

“It’s for your safety, and it IS the law, your Majesty.” and Charlotte put hers on. 

“*I* am the law, in this case, Charlotte. Besides, I’m not going out on the road. I’ll just stay around the palace.” She put the car into gear, very properly checked her mirrors then over her shoulder, took her foot off the brake and lightly touched the gas pedal.

“REVERSE, your Majesty!” Charlotte cried in alarm as the car ahead became suddenly nearer.

Clarisse slammed her foot back on the brake, throwing them both forward. Charlotte was saved from banging her head on the dashboard by her seatbelt, but Clarisse was thrown into the steering wheel, her chest making violent contact with the horn which started blaring. The queen pushed herself back with a grimace of pain and the noise mercifully ceased. Unfortunately, she also took her foot off the brake, and the car again rolled gently forward, bumping into the limousine ahead. Clarisse muttered an oath under her breath and jammed on the brake, again sending herself into the steering wheel.

“OUCH!” she hissed, massaging her upper chest with one hand, before looking over at Charlotte who was heroically keeping a straight face. 

“Anti-lock brakes, your Majesty,” Charlotte managed to say. “They’re rather ... touchy.”

“Touchy brakes,” Clarisse repeated. “Who knew?” She took a deep breath. “Now, before those silly men come running out to see what is wrong, what DID I do wrong?”

“I’m not sure. I guess you put it in Drive instead of in Reverse.” Charlotte said.

“If they had left the stick thingy where it was before instead of putting it up on the steering wheel and confusing me, I’d have been better off.”

“Perhaps we should start you off in a smaller car, your Majesty.”

“That’s an idea. I’d like a Mustang like Mia’s.”

“Your Majesty ...”

“Oh, tush, Charlotte! I was joking!”

“Oh.”

Suddenly the two women became aware of a disapproving figure standing by Clarisse’s window. She looked for the handle to roll the window down, but before she could register the multitude of buttons on the door beside her, Joseph had opened the door. “May I ask what you two are doing, your Majesty, besides attempting to demolish the limousines in your fleet?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Joseph! Charlotte and I are merely going for a drive.”

He surveyed the two women, then the limousines with the bumpers touching. “I see.”

Clarisse could tell by his quiet words that he DID see, more than she had really wanted him to see. “I think I shall buy myself a new car,” she announced airily. “just to run around town with. I would like a ... what did you call them, Charlotte? Oh yes, I would like a standard car because I am more used to them, and from what I have heard, they have considerably more power than automatic cars.” Charlotte and Joseph exchanged glances, and Clarisse sighed. “You don’t think I need more power.” 

“I don’t think you need a car, period.” Joseph said. “You will never be going anywhere without me, your Majesty, and I refuse to get into one of those little puddle-jumpers. We’ll stick to the limousines, preferably with a REAL driver at the wheel ...”

“I intend to learn how to be a REAL driver, with or without your help, Joseph!”

At that moment, Charlotte murmured, “If you’ll excuse me, your Majesty ... I suddenly remembered ... I’ll be right back ...” Without waiting for Clarisse’s reaction, she scrambled out of the car and disappeared.

Clarisse hit the steering wheel almost petulantly, and jumped when the horn blasted again. 

“It appears that Charlotte has baled out of this little escapade, your Majesty,” Joseph said.

Clarisse tightened her lips, but refused to answer. 

“I think you’re mad,” Joseph continued flatly.

“Mad? Angry?” Clarisse was stung into speaking. “You are quite right! I AM annoyed!”

“Insane mad. It was Voltaire, I believe, who said that madness was to have erroneous perceptions and to reason correctly from them. You mistakenly believe that you need to know how to drive, therefore you know you need to be taught ... RE-taught,” he caught her slight movement of protest, but carried on before she could interrupt him, “and you are deducing finally that it must be your Head of Security who is to be your teacher in this matter because there is no other way you are going to learn. Is that understood?”

“Very well,” Clarisse sighed, almost giving in to her impulse to slump back in her seat.

Joseph shut her door, walked around the car and got in beside her. “Now then,” he directed her. “Have you found all the controls you might need while driving?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Suppose it began to rain. Do you know where the windshield wipers are?”

“Oh. Umm ...” Clarisse hunted for a while, and then looked at him. “Nothing says anything. There are just a number of meaningless pictures.”

Joseph grinned in spite of himself. “You’re right. That’s what I always thought they were.” Then he cleared his throat and began to formally instruct her as to where she would find the windshield wipers, washers, and lights. He explained the gears, and how she just needed to put it in either R or D, and didn’t need to worry about the numbers 2 or 3 showing on the dashboard. 

In fact, his incredible patience with her gave Clarisse pause in her fierce desire to go against his and Charlotte’s wishes in the matter of driving, although she refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing her change of heart. Instead, when he finally told her she could put the limousine in reverse and back up, she did as she was told without argument. As she maneuvered the vehicle around the palace grounds, all the time gaining confidence in her ability to handle the machine, her irrepressible spirit emerged once more.

Stopping the limousine in a deserted area of the gardens, Clarisse carefully put it in park and turned to Joseph, her eyes sparkling. “Oh, Joseph, thank you for showing me ...” she began.

He was suddenly sitting very close beside her, his arm along the back of the seat behind her heavy on her shoulders as his eyes met hers. The words she was going to say died in her throat, and she stilled, her lips still parted, eyes on his. Then his hands on her shoulders gently urged her towards him, and his mouth covered hers. He kissed her lightly at first, his mouth barely grazing against hers as he let her grow accustomed to him. Gradually he increased the pressure and the pleasure with it, and she thought of a bottomless pool, deep enough to swallow her up forever. And she really didn’t care, if she could go on with him kissing her so deliciously. His lips were warm and sure on hers, the sensations heightened by the roughness of his beard on her skin, and with a tiny gasp of surrender, her own lips parted for him, searching for more of the warmth and pleasure he offered. Somewhere in the back of her mind she had expected that his kiss would remain soft, gentle, a friendly kiss like the ones Rupert used to bestow upon her, but she had been wrong. This kiss quickly became like one she and Joseph had shared in San Francisco the night of the Independence Day Ball. His mouth moving against hers was all-consuming. It was a sizzling, wordless seduction that seemed to invite her to allow him to explore, to tempt, to drive her wild. And driven wild she was. 

His lips nipped, coaxed and teased hers. Clarisse stifled a moan of delight as she nibbled at his lower lip, felt the brush of his beard and moustache on her soft skin, and the erotic sensation of his tongue touching hers. She lost all sense of reality as she clung to him, kissing him frantically, unaware in the haze of sensuality that her hands were sliding over him and his were caressing her. She pressed closer and closer to him, squirming against him, wordlessly demanding the touch of his fingers on her breasts, feeling the moisture between her legs flowing as his heated arousal pressed firmly against her there.

Dazedly, Clarisse finally realized the clear notes she was hearing as if from far away were actually from Joseph’s cell phone in his pocket. As she came back to reality, she realized her skirt was bunched around her waist so she could straddle Joseph’s hips, her jacket was pushed back off her shoulders and her sweater shoved up where his hands had been caressing her lovingly. Joseph’s shirt was open to his waist and her fingers were entangled in his chest hair. She could see vivid scratch marks where her fingernails had marked him. As Joseph muttered imprecations and reached for his phone, Clarisse scrambled off his lap and back into the driver’s seat, horrified by her recent actions. She had NEVER before ‘necked’ in a car, let alone until all the windows were steamed up, but she couldn’t see out any of them! She hastily smoothed her skirt down, straightened out her sweater and buttoned her jacket, then ran her fingers through her hair. Glancing in the mirror, she closed her eyes for a moment at the sight of her reddened, slightly swollen lips. Then she realized Joseph was finished speaking and was now watching her intently.

“Clarisse, I ...”

“Joseph, please ...” her voice was low and husky. “I ... I can’t. I can’t do this. I’m sorry if I led you on, but ...” her voice broke. 

“I understand, my dear,” he said after a moment.

Her head came up and she looked at him fully. “How CAN you? I cannot understand ...”

His smile was faint and obviously forced. “But I do understand. As the queen of Genovia, you have certain responsibilities. One of those is meeting with diplomats, which is why Charlotte just phoned looking for you. Until you have passed on many of these responsibilities to Princess Mia, you cannot take time for yourself and your own needs. At least, that is what I BELIEVE you think.” 

“I can’t ask you to wait ...” 

“You also can’t stop me from waiting,” he said simply.

“Oh, Joseph ...” her hand touched his cheek lightly. Then she added softly, “You know, Joseph, you brought me more joy than I ever knew existed. You saw me as Clarisse, you showed me how it could have, how it SHOULD have been with Rupert and I ... I would give anything to ... well, to share everything with you. What we have together is special ...”

“And some day the world will know about it, but that day is not yet. Right now, Charlotte is awaiting your arrival along with the delegation from Portugal. If we dally here much longer, I have no doubt but that a search party will be sent out to rescue you from my nefarious designs!”

Clarisse chuckled, feeling her tension beginning to ease slightly. “Joseph, I WISH it wasn’t necessary, but I do think we need to keep our ... friendship ... in the shadows, so to speak. Just for the time being.”

His hand was now on her cheek, his thumb smoothing over her skin tenderly. “Clarisse, I love you. I have for a long, long time.”

Clarisse’s cheeks flushed, something she couldn’t remember happening for years. Her eyes dropped and her hands tightened convulsively on the steering wheel. “Joseph, I ...”

“It’s all right. I don’t expect you to say anything. I know you can’t. I just wanted you to know. I also want you to know that in spite of my fussing and Charlotte’s hedging, I am very proud of you for wanting to be able to drive again, and for being such a success at it, as indeed you are at everything you turn your hand to. I see no reason why you should not have your licence renewed.”

Her face lit up. “Oh, thank you, Joseph!” She leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, her hand lingering on his jaw for a moment, then she settled back in behind the wheel and, tongue firmly between her teeth as she concentrated, she put the car into reverse, backed up smoothly, then drove around to the front of the palace.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

When Charlotte tried to again say that Clarisse’s license would be automatically renewed if she requested it, Clarisse stood beside her aide while Charlotte made the call to make an appointment for her driver’s test. Charlotte had to argue with the man on the other end of the phone as well, who could not understand why the queen wanted a valid driver’s licence in the first place, and secondly was loathe to make her do all parts of the test again, as Clarisse had insisted. Finally he agreed to send someone to the palace immediately.

Although Clarisse was a little nervous about having to write her test on such short notice, she accepted the papers from the young man when he arrived, and questioned him to be sure it was the same written test everyone else received. He stammered that it was exactly the same, and Clarisse waved him away to the other side of the room with Charlotte while she sat at her desk and wrote her answers, under his watchful eye. When she was finished, the young man scanned her answers nervously, then smiled at her, relieved. “One hundred percent, your Majesty!”

Then he proceeded to check her eyes, confirming that she could see distance fine, and only needed her glasses for reading. “So your license will not be a restricted one.”

Joseph walked in when the young man was testing Clarisse’s reflexes, and overheard him saying, “Your Majesty, you are in EXCELLENT shape for your age!” Catching Joseph’s hard look, the young man blushed deeply and stammered, “I mean, excellent health ... for ... ah ... well, just excellent health! Here’s your license, your Majesty ...”

“But I haven’t shown you that I can drive yet!” Clarisse protested.

“I’m sure that won’t be necessary ...” the man looked wretched.

“Everyone ELSE has to, don’t they?”

“Well, yes, but ...”

“Come. I believe I left the vehicle out front.” Clarisse made her way out of her office, the young man trailing after her, still protesting the need.

“Show him you know how to park,” Joseph murmured to Clarisse as she passed him. Charlotte almost choked on her chuckle, and hastily wiped her face free of expression when Clarisse glanced at her.

“Joseph, behave!” Clarisse almost hissed at him, suppressing her own chuckles.

The young man, clearly overwhelmed at being in the front seat of a limousine with the queen of Genovia behind the wheel, weakly indicated that she should drive around the loop in front of the palace. When she came back to the steps of the palace, he told her to stop by the steps where the limousine had been.

“I could show you how I can parallel park properly,” Clarisse said, wanting him to know that she had practiced that as well.

To her surprise, the young man blushed deeply. “I’m sure you DO know how to park ... and steam up ... uh, I mean ... no need, your Majesty ... here’s your license.”

He pulled a page from his clipboard and passed it to her, then bolted before she could ask him why the license had been completely made out before she even tried the test. Joseph and Charlotte were standing on the bottom steps of the palace, both grinning at her as she held the typed license and stared after the fast disappearing car of the young man.

Joseph shrugged when she turned to him. “You don’t need it anyway, your Majesty, as I tried to tell you.”

“Well, I’m proud of you, your Majesty,” Charlotte spoke up, giving Joseph an irritated look then smiling at Clarisse. 

“Thank you. You know,” Clarisse looked introspective all of a sudden. Joseph and Charlotte both tensed. Clarisse thought of a certain black leather suit she had seen in one of Mia’s teen magazines and pictured Joseph on a motorcycle. She smiled mischievously at the two others. “You know,” she repeated, “I do believe that I will try for my motorcycle license next.”

“Your Majesty?” Joseph spoke in a deceptively calm, quiet voice. 

She looked at him inquiringly. “Yes, Joseph?”

“OVER MY DEAD BODY!” he roared. "ARE YOU TRYING TO DRIVE ME CRAZY?"


	2. Drive Me Crazy Still

“Your Majesty! You aren’t really going to buy THAT! Are you?” Disbelief was evident in Charlotte Kutaway’s voice.

“I went to all the trouble to take that motorcycle driving course, Charlotte. I have to have the proper apparel to wear.”

“There’s very little **proper** about that! Nothing at all, as a matter of fact.” Charlotte raised an eyebrow at the ensemble in her sovereign’s hands.

Clarisse laughed. “Oh, Charlotte, it is not that bad. Besides, Joseph has been in the hospital for over six months. I intend to see that he really enjoys his homecoming.”

“Joseph and every other man in the palace,” Charlotte muttered under her breath.

“I will simply wear the jacket over this,” Clarisse replied, having heard Charlotte’s low words. “Trust me, I will need the protection.”

“You can say that again.”

Clarisse rolled her eyes at her young aide. “Have you ever been hit by a flying bug while traveling at eighty kilometres an hour on a motorcycle?” 

“No, Your Majesty, I have not, and I cannot believe that you have.” Charlotte hung up the leather skirt she was holding.

“I told both you and Joseph when I received my driver’s license that I wanted to learn to drive a motorcycle next.”

“I know you did, but we did not think that you were serious. I mean, I can still remember how upset you were when Joseph bought his motorcycle six years ago.”

Clarisse did not respond but simply returned her attention back to the outfit in her hands. It had taken her a couple years, and Joseph finally going into the hospital for his knee replacement surgery, but she’d finally managed to get around to taking motorcycle driving lessons.

“Joseph is not going to be happy, Your Majesty,” Charlotte commented idly. 

“He will get over it soon enough.”

“I still can’t believe you…” Charlotte shook her head. “Especially after how many times you’d told Joseph how unsafe motorcycles were. Now you can’t wait for him to be released from the hospital so that you can take him for a ride.”

A saucy grin touched Clarisse’s lips. “You can say that again. I want to show him I can drive the bike, too.”

“Oh God!” Charlotte’s face flamed. She’d known for the last three years that there was more to the Queen and Joseph’s relationship than they let on to the rest of the world, but even still. Charlotte waved her hands to stop Clarisse. “No more information, please! I have to work with Joseph. I need to be able to look him in the face. I don’t need the intimate details of his sex life.”

Clarisse laughed. “Oh, Charlotte… you are too much.”

**~^~ ~^~ ~^~**

“Haven’t I just spent the last six months in physical therapy learning to walk again?”

Charlotte bit back a smile as she nodded. “Yes.”

“Then why is it that I have to be wheeled out when I am perfectly capable of walking,” Joseph asked as the orderly pushed his wheelchair down the corridor towards the main doors of the hospital.

“It’s hospital policy and you know it, Joe,” Charlotte told him with a small grin at the frown on his face.

“Where is her Majesty? I was under the impression that she was going to be here when I was released.”

“She… uh…” Charlotte began. “She’s waiting outside.”

“Shades is watching her I trust?”

“Yes. He’s done a good job while you’ve been off,” Charlotte told him. “You’d be proud of him.”

Joseph merely nodded and let his thoughts wander as they continued down the hall to the elevator. 

Six months.

He’d been away from the palace for six months.

Clarisse had, after catching Joseph wince one too many times, ordered him to go have the knee replacement surgery he’d been putting off. He hadn’t wanted to go, and had argued with her that her safety was more important than his knees. An argument she’d quickly won by pointing out that with bad knees he was actually jeopardizing her safety.

Joseph had booked the surgery the next day - for both knees, despite the doctor advising him to have one knee operated on at a time. There was no way he was going to be off any longer than he had to.

For the last six months, Clarisse’s well-being - her safety - had been in someone else’s hands. It was that thought that had Joseph working extra hard to get back to the palace, and more importantly, back to Clarisse’s side.

Clarisse had gone with him to the hospital the day of the surgery, brushing a soft kiss over his lips before they wheeled him away.

“I will be here when you get out,” Clarisse had whispered against his lips, then kissed him again.

Joseph smiled at the memory. 

She had indeed been waiting for him. She’d even stayed in his room with him until he had woken up from the anesthesia, and then had been to see him almost every day. 

Since their time in the limousine four years ago when Joseph had taught her to drive once again, they had grown steadily closer. Unable to stay away from one another, Joseph and Clarisse had taken their relationship to the next level. Surprisingly enough, it had been Clarisse who had made the first move, kissing Joseph with undisguised passion, and need this past Christmas, then taking his hand and leading him to her suite.

They had made love all night.

And from that night on, they’d been very careful to keep the change in their relationship secret; keeping their love in the shadows. 

The only person who knew for certain about Joseph and Clarisse was Charlotte. She’d found out only because she’d caught them kissing madly in Clarisse’s office one evening. From that day on, Charlotte had been their alli. She’d helped them keep their relationship a secret, something both Clarisse and Joseph were extremely grateful for.

“How much longer is this ride going to last?” Joseph asked as the elevator stopped for each floor.

“Not too much longer, Joe,” Charlotte assured him with a knowing pat on the shoulder.

Joseph nodded, then closed his eyes.

He missed Clarisse.

He missed being with Clarisse.

He missed the feeling of her body against, and around his. The taste of her skin, the sweetness of her mouth. He missed hearing the wonderful little sounds she made as he moved within her.

Joseph missed being with Clarisse, and was very anxious to see her, and be with her again.

They’d grown even closer during his sojourn in the hospital. Being unable to make love, they’d talked - which is not to say that they hadn’t talked before - but as their time to be together in an intimate fashion was limited, their passion for each other usually won out over talking. So over the last six months, they had talked. Talked and learned even more about each other than either had known before.

“And here we are, Joe,” the orderly said, pulling Joseph out of his thoughts, as he brought the wheelchair to a stop in front of the main entrance.

“Thank you, Louis,” Joseph said as he got to his feet. He shook the younger man’s hand. “I wish I could say it’s been a pleasure…”

Louis grinned. “I understand, Joe. Now don’t forget your promise to come by and show me your Harley.”

“I won’t,” Joseph said, then turned to Charlotte. “Shall we? I am anxious to get home, get on the bike, and see…” his voice trailed off.

Charlotte nodded, knowing what he wasn’t saying. “Her Majesty is waiting.”

They walked through the front doors, and Joseph came to a dead stop.

“Oh Dios mío!” Joseph muttered, and swallowed hard at the sight that greeted him.

His motorcycle had been brought out of storage, and stood gleaming in the sunlight. But what interested Joseph more was the woman propped up against the huge machine.

Clarisse leaned saucily against the Harley; a black helmet tucked neatly in the crook of one arm. Her hair was fluffed and glowed in a fiery halo around her head. But what peaked Joseph’s excitement the most was her outfit. His eyes started at her feet, which were encased in black leather knee high riding boots. Low riding black leather pants laced up both sides of her legs, with a generous amount of creamy flesh visible on each side. A black lace up halter-top barely covered her generous cleavage; a full two inches of flesh visible down the center revealing the inner swell of her heavy breasts.

How he managed to walk down the steps, and over to where she was standing was a mystery to Joseph. When he was standing before her, she lifted the mirrored sunglasses covering her eyes. “Clarisse…” he exhaled, her name barely a whisper on his breath.

“Hello, Joseph. I thought we might go for a… ride.” Clarisse punctuated her words by flicking her tongue lightly across her lips.

“Oh, yes!” Joseph almost fell over his own feet in his haste to get to the bike, oblivious to the stares and low whistles from the various people milling around the hospital parking lot. “I like your outfit, and your helmet, so appropriate I hope.” The solid black head protector was emblazoned with the words ‘Wild Thing’ painted in red.

“You should be so lucky.” Her mouth curled into a sexy smile, as blue eyes slowly scanned his leather-clad form. “I like your outfit too.”

Joseph grinned, and glanced down at the outfit Charlotte had brought in for him, telling him that Clarisse had asked that he wear it. “Thank you. It was a gift.”

“It just needs one more thing,” Clarisse said as she turned slightly and raised her arm to pull Joseph’s helmet off of the backrest. The movement caused her breasts to swell dangerously high in the low leather vest, and Joseph to swell in a different area. He caught the black helmet Clarisse tossed him handily as his eyes raked her form yet again. Then he glanced down. His helmet had also been embellished in the same manner as Clarisse’s, the words ‘Bad to the Bone’ painted in fiery red letters across the top. 

“Also appropriate, I think.” Clarisse laughed, and lowered her eyes to his bulging crotch.

“I thought you didn’t like the motorcycle.”

“I didn’t.” Clarisse smiled mysteriously. “But then I saw you in your leather riding outfit, and I realized that under the correct circumstances, with the proper handling, the proper training, it could be fun. I love the freedom of riding down the road; a hot, throbbing… engine between my legs.” She picked up a leather jacket from the seat and thrust her arms into it. “Ready to ride?” Joseph was torn between his desire to continue to see her in the halter and his unwillingness to let the strangers walking around continue to gawk at what he considered his own private property, and possibly realize that it was their queen.

“More than ready, my love. Shall we?”

Clarisse leaned against the seat, and threw a leg over. She patted the seat behind her. “Climb on.”

“Uhm… Clarisse?”

Blue eyes twinkled, one blocked briefly by a quick wink. “I’ve been taking lessons. Learning how to be a better driver. I thought you liked it when I took control.”

Joseph exhaled sharply, and climbed onto the bike. He wrapped his arms around Clarisse’s waist, his fingers slipping inside the jacket and open lacing to rub the sides of her breasts.

“We’d better get out of here pretty quick or I am going to lose all control and I won’t be responsible for what Charlotte might see.” He pressed his hips close into her shapely rear to emphasize his point.

Clarisse planted her feet firmly on the ground, and kicked back, pushing the bike off its stand, and pressing her bottom more firmly into Joseph’s massive erection in the process. He groaned as pleasure washed through his body.

“Do you know how hard **that** is to get out of leather? Behave yourself! And take us home to the palace,” he muttered.

“Should I ask how you know that small tidbit of information?” Clarisse laughed, and slid her helmet over her head, effectively cutting off the conversation. Joseph quickly followed suit, and held on tight as they roared out of the parking lot.

“Charlotte, that wasn’t who I think it was, was it?” Shades asked, as she joined him at the bottom of the hospital steps.

Charlotte merely smiled. “I don’t know. Who do you think it was, Shades?”

“It looked like the queen and Joseph, but she’s in the back of the limo.”

“Are you certain?” 

“Yeah, I know the privacy screen’s been up the whole time, but yeah, I’m pretty damn certain she’s back there.”

Charlotte stepped over to the limousine. “Let’s go home, Shades.”

“What about Joseph? Isn’t that why we’re here?” Shades asked as he opened the door for her.

“Oh, Joseph’s got a ride,” Charlotte said as she slid into the car.

Shades grinned as he realized the queen was NOT in the limo and shut the door then gave a low whistle. “Damn!”

**~^~ ~^~ ~^~**

Although Joseph had been nervous about taking the back seat on the motorcycle, he had to admit that Clarisse was doing an excellent job handling the powerful machine. He also had to admit that he liked having his hands free. The halter-top Clarisse was wearing came to rest a few inches below her chest, leaving a wide expanse of skin open to his touch. He slipped his hands beneath her jacket to hang on there, fingers rubbing the firm flesh, tantalizing her as much as the press of her rear on his erection was tantalizing him.

“Where are we going?” He yelled though the helmet once they stopped at a red light.

“I thought we’d take a ride in the country, maybe up to the state park. We should be there in about half an hour.”

The light changed, cutting off any further conversation. Joseph resumed his leisurely exploration of Clarisse’s stomach, growing more daring as they entered the park and traffic died away.

The bike wavered slightly beneath them when Joseph slid his hands up to palm Clarisse’s breasts but she quickly corrected, then briefly removed one hand from its hold to swat at Joseph’s probing fingers. He smiled beneath the helmet, then stuck his fingers in deeper, finding and pinching her generous nipples.

Retaliation was inevitable, and Clarisse was a master at it. While keeping her focus on the road she began to work her rear up and down, torturing Joseph’s rock hard erection even more.

The end of the lacing of Clarisse’s top found its way between Joseph’s thumb and forefinger, and he pulled playfully, surprised when it parted. He could feel the tension in Clarisse’s body as he slowly unthreaded the string, exposing her chest to the elements bit by bit. By the time the bike crested the top of the hill, the top hung open, held together only by a single cross of the tie.

In a move that surprised Joseph, Clarisse took the Harley off the path and right up to the edge of the overlook, the ocean spread out majestically in front of them. With a surprising show of strength she stopped the bike and popped it back on its stand then ripped her helmet off and let it fall to the ground.

Joseph’s helmet bounced beside it seconds later as his hands ripped the last lacing out and covered her now naked breasts with his hands. Clarisse turned in his embrace and their lips met in a fiery kiss, tongues attacking ravenously. Her hand snaked back to grasp behind his head, locking his head to hers.

Clarisse’s eyes were gleaming as the kiss finally broke. “You are an evil man and you will be punished.”

“What’d I do?” Joseph gave her his best innocent look.

“I don’t paw you like that when you are driving… well not that much.” She amended, remembering her first ride with Joseph, when she’d discovered that her hands rested very nicely at the joining of his hip and thigh leaving her fingers in a perfect position to caress him.

“Rider’s prerogative, darling. You in that outfit… how could I help myself? But that’s why you bought it… isn’t it?” Joseph’s hands were busy stripping her jacket away, the top quickly following.

“Your turn. If I’m gonna expose my assets then you better get naked too.” 

Joseph threw his jacket and tee shirt to the ground then wrapped his arms back around her, capturing her lips in another desperate kiss. 

“I need you, Clarisse. I need you right now.” Joseph was so aroused he was almost begging.

“Then take me. I need you too.”

“Let’s get off…”

“Uhm… let’s not. Ever since I started taking lessons I’ve been having some very erotic dreams. You and I… together… the bike engine throbbing beneath us as you pulse inside me. I’m so ready for you, Joseph.”

Joseph’s head fell back, eyes closed, as he was almost overwhelmed by the image she was painting. When he’d managed to beat back his near climax he opened his eyes to find that Clarisse had undone his button and zipper, releasing his erection to the elements.

“Turn around. We can manage this…” He gasped, his fingers moving to her hips to yank frantically at the lacing on either side of her tight leather pants.

“I love it when you go commando. Lift up and push your pants down.” Clarisse ordered, her body half turned so that she could maintain her hold on him. Joseph did as he was told then returned to his quest to open her pants. As the two halves parted, one hand worked its way down and into her sopping cleft.

Clarisse cried out and jerked back against Joseph’s solid chest as a small climax shook her body at his touch. When he would have continued to work her desire with his fingers she gripped his wrist and forced his hand upward. Joseph trailed his wet fingers back up her stomach to her breasts, drenching both nipples with her own moisture.

“Joseph! Oh God… I’ve got to have…” Clarisse planted her feet on the footrest and lifted her body to push the leather away from her upper legs. “Scoot down a little!”

Realizing what she wanted, Joseph once again followed her directive, pushing his hips forward slightly as his hands grasped her hips to direct her down. When Clarisse felt the head of his erection bump against her dripping cleft she stopped. One hand gripped Joseph’s thigh while the other worked Joseph’s shaft against her clitoris and down her sheath, coating his member with her moisture.

Joseph groaned as Clarisse used him like a sex toy, stimulating herself with his swollen organ until her juices were draining down over his hips. His fingers dug into her hips as he fought against his climax. 

She sank onto him without warning, crying out as he stretched her sheath, filling her fully.

“Oh God, I’ve missed you so much!”

“Ride me, darling. I can’t last long,” Joseph’s hands moved from her hips to her breasts as he pulled her back into his chest, his lips attacking her shoulder blades. A moan escaped his lips as he glanced over her shoulder and saw Clarisse reflected in the polished metal of the cycle’s gas tank. Her face was contorted in pleasure, her breasts swollen and heavy in his palms.

“Yes… oh God!” Clarisse planted her palms on Joseph’s thighs and began to move up and down on his rigid shaft. Soon the perspiration of their bodies lubricated their movements as her torso slid up and down his. Their excitement built quickly, the warmth and vibration of the motor running beneath their legs only adding to their pleasure.

Release came suddenly and without warning, Joseph’s fingers sliding down to finger the swollen bud of Clarisse’s desire pushing her into a prolonged orgasm. He held her tightly, his hand continuing to work her as she convulsed against him, her inner muscles clenching him, working his erection until he felt his full sacs swell and empty, his juices rising up to gush into her womb. 

Clarisse fell forward, her forehead resting on the handlebars of the bike, her chest draped over the fuel tank, Joseph pressed against her back.

“Oh, Joseph… that was incredible!” She gasped, amazed to feel him still firm within her.

“Vroom vroom vroom!” was his whispered reply.

They lay there for long minutes, recuperating from the effort of their loving. Finally Joseph dragged himself back upright and pulled Clarisse up with him. She moaned as she straightened her back, feeling Joseph’s semi-erect shaft firm up within her. She rocked experimentally against him.

Joseph groaned and yanked her tightly into his chest.

“Joseph… we’re going to get caught… we should get dressed… oooh do that again!”

“I don’t give a damn if the entire park staff lines up and starts scoring us. How much gas has this thing got?”

“A full tank… oh… your fingers are so… there… right there, please!”

“Turn around, honey. I need to be able to kiss you,” his hands yanked at the last bit of lacing on her left leg

Clarisse quickly levered her body up, whimpering slightly as she felt Joseph slide out of her, then pulled her leather boot off so that her pant leg fell away, baring her left leg. She swung both legs over the seat and turned to face Joseph. He pulled her forward into his hips then dipped his fingers back into her sheath. Their lips met as her arms twined around his neck.

Joseph carefully lowered Clarisse back onto the bike until her head came to rest near the throttle. He rocked forward and buried himself within her once again.

“The bike… be careful… we don’t want to turn over.” Clarisse pleaded, even as she rocked against him.

Joseph planted one foot on the ground and the other on a nearby rock to steady them then, sliding his arms beneath her back and shoulders, he began to piston in and out of her.

Those low quiet sex sounds that Joseph loved so much began to bubble from Clarisse’s lips as her back arched off the bike. Joseph took what was offered, locking his lips over a distended rosy nipple and suckling as if he were starving.

The murmuring in Clarisse’s throat became louder, more demanding, as the force of her own thrusts increased. Joseph was almost past the point of return himself, his own moans joining with hers. His right hand left her shoulder and moved forward, groping down the steering bars until he found the throttle and turned it… revving the engine to maximum.

The scream of completion that burst from Clarisse’s lips echoed through the pine forest behind them and out over the ocean in front of them. Joseph’s hand fell from the throttle as he thrust one last time and joined his partner in release.

A huge grin hung on Joseph’s face as he slowly levered his chest away from Clarisse. The smile on her face matched his.

“So… I guess you missed me, hmm?” A single finger caressed the line of her jaw.

“Terribly… as much as you missed me, apparently.”

“That’s the understatement of the century. Having you so close everyday, and not being able to touch you… to love you,” Joseph gently thrust against her. “Torture. Pure and utter torture.”

“For me as well, Joseph. Why do you think I took a course in motorcycle safety? I had to do something to occupy my free time while you were in therapy… although I do still wish they would have let me in with you,” Clarisse told him. “But for every moment we were apart… I thought about you… about this… your body next to mine… touching me… me touching you.”

A load groan fell from Joseph’s lips as he snapped off the engine, hoisted Clarisse up and levered both of them off of the bike. She wrapped her legs around his hips as he stepped over to her jacket and knelt, lowering her down on top of it. He ravaged her mouth until she gasped for air then moved lower, licking and kissing his way down her neck.

He paused when he reached the valley between her breasts, burying his face there for a long moment before moving up the slope to capture the dusky peak with his mouth. 

Joseph’s actions were wild, almost animalistic, as he suckled her forcefully, propping on one hand while the other slid down her stomach to roughly finger her sex. Clarisse’s fingers dug into the grass beneath her as she whimpered and thrust her body into Joseph’s touch.

“Please! Oh God!” Clarisse began to strain against him. Joseph thrust a finger into her wet depths then added another as he began to work his thumb into her clit.

“Come for me, Clarisse. Let me watch. Let go… now!” The third finger was the charm. Clarisse exploded, gasping for breath as the earth tilted beneath her. Joseph’s name surged to her lips and she screamed over and over as his probing fingers prolonged her pleasure.

Sanity returned slowly, Clarisse finding her shuddering body locked in Joseph’s embrace as his lips brushed lightly across her face.

“Have I mentioned how much I love you?” she murmured.

“Hopefully as much as I love you. And I do love you, Clarisse Renaldi. I have no life without you.”

A tear slipped from Clarisse’s eye as she kissed Joseph tenderly. “You are my life… what are you doing?”

Clarisse propped up on one elbow as Joseph groped in the pocket of his pants hanging around his knees. He drew his hand out and back up to hers, pressing a small box into her palm. 

“This wasn’t exactly the setting I had planned but the time just seems right. Will you marry me, Clarisse?”

Joseph popped the top of the box back to reveal an exquisite emerald cut diamond in a platinum band.

“Joseph, I… I…” Joseph’s heart fell as Clarisse lay back on the ground quietly. “My darling…”

“I’m not asking you to marry me today. I know we have to wait until Mia is queen… but I want to spend the rest of my life with you… loving you… as your husband… and I will wait for you for as long as necessary…”

Soft laughter bubbled to Clarisse’s lips. Joseph snapped the box closed. 

“No… Joseph…” Clarisse covered his hands with hers. “Of course I will marry you. How could you think I would say no?”

“Well… your laughter was a pretty good indication.” His face was still unsure.

Clarisse sat up to kiss him, her hand caressing his cheek. “Look at us, my love. I’ve never been proposed to while lying almost completely naked in the middle of a forest.” She wiggled her one booted foot at him. “What will we tell people when they ask us where we got engaged?” 

The smile on her face was infectious and Joseph found that he was grinning too. “We tell them that I proposed to you in the middle of a beautiful forest, with the ocean pounding in the background, while on a picnic.”

“A picnic?” Clarisse raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

“Well I was certainly hungry and your appetite speaks for itself.” Joseph shrugged his shoulders at her. “As to what we were wearing? That’s nobody’s business.”

“Why don’t you put this on for me?” Clarisse held the ring box out to Joseph. He slipped the ring from its padding, removed her wedding ring, and slid the engagement ring onto her finger. “A perfect fit,” she pronounced.

“Just like us,” Joseph said and brought her hand up to his lips. He pressed a loving kiss to the ring. “I promise… I will wait for as long as you need me to to make you my wife.”

Clarisse smiled up at him.

“Now… as absolutely fantastic as this has been… why don’t we head for home? As I recall there is a big comfortable bed waiting there that I bet we can have a lot more fun celebrating in.”

“You didn’t think this was fun?” Clarisse pouted prettily.

“Oh my queen, fun doesn’t even begin to describe this… how about ‘one of the most intense, erotic experiences of my life’.”

“Much better,” Clarisse rewarded Joseph with a kiss as she sat up and embraced him.

A shout from the path beneath them reminded the couple of their very exposed state and they reluctantly parted. 

“That is one hell of an outfit,” Joseph ogled Clarisse as she deftly laced the sides of her pants back together.

“Thank you. I thought you might like it.” It was Clarisse’s turn to watch as Joseph yanked his black tee shirt over his head and shoved it into the waistband of his pants.

“You keep looking at me like that and we aren’t going to make it home.” Joseph was practically drooling as Clarisse finished tying the sides of her pants and, picking up her jacket, started looking around for her top. Noise from just behind the trees caused them both to scramble.

“You folks okay up here? Someone below thought they heard a scream.” Joseph quickly moved in front of Clarisse as the park ranger burst through the trees.

“We’re just fine,” Joseph said with a stern look at the man.

The ranger’s eyes widened. “Mister Ferreira! Sir! I’m sorry to disturb you.”

“That’s all right. You’re doing job.”

“So… there was no scream?”

“Actually, there was. My…” Joseph paused. What did he call her? Girlfriend? Lover? He certainly couldn’t tell the ranger is was the queen. He shrugged internally, deciding to go with the easiest of the options. “My girlfriend screamed. Thought she saw a snake. I guess the sound really carries around here.” From the corner of his eye Joseph saw Clarisse quickly zip up the jacket she’d pulled on. “It was just a garden snake…” 

“It was a very scary snake…” Clarisse interrupted with a lilt to try and disguise her voice from behind Joseph, her back still to the two men. “It was really big… and so long… and it kept raising its head at me.”

Joseph rolled his eyes. “You know women… you can’t tell them that a non poisonous snake is okay.”

The ranger laughed and nodded. “Well, as long as everything is okay.”

“Just fine. But I think my lady friend here has had all the… snakes… she can handle for the moment.”

“Speak for yourself,” Clarisse whispered for Joseph’s ears only. “I can handle your snake anytime.”

Joseph coughed. “I think now though, that we are going to head back to the palace… my fiancée is anxious to meet the queen.”

“Understandable. The queen is a wonderful woman.”

“She is indeed,” Joseph agreed with a smile as he reached for and squeezed Clarisse’s hand.

The ranger gave Joseph a short nod. “Have yourself a good day, Mister Ferreira.”

“You too, Ranger Smith.”

Ranger Smith smiled then turned and walked away.

“He’s gone,” Joseph said moments later as he turned to face Clarisse.

“Good. Do you think he realized who I was?”

“No. I didn’t see any spark of recognition in his eyes.”

Clarisse breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. Now what the hell did you do with my top?”

Joseph swallowed hard. “You didn’t… you aren’t wearing anything under your jacket.”

“No… I can’t find where you threw my bloody top!” Clarisse replied as she looked around the grassy peak for her halter. “God knows what Ranger Smith thinks!”

“We covered. He doesn’t suspect a thing,” Joseph began to scan the ground for the missing clothing

“I’m only wearing one shoe and your fly is unzipped. Sure he doesn’t!” Clarisse laughed as Joseph’s fingers leapt to his zipper and pulled it up. “And there is also the fact that you are going to have a hell of a time explaining that at the dry cleaners.” 

She gestured towards his crotch and Joseph glanced down to find a large damp ring covering the front of his pants from hip to mid thigh. “What the hell!?! I didn’t…”

Clarisse began to laugh again. “But I did, my love… and I was on top.”

“Well…” Joseph joined Clarisse in her laughter, “…it was worth it. It was definitely worth it.”

~^~ ~^~ ~^~

The sun was just beginning to set when Joseph pulled the Harley into the palace garage. He steered the mammoth machine over to its spot in the back, away from the limousines then shut off the engine. He pulled his helmet off and hung it on the handle bar.

He felt Clarisse do the same then wrap her arms back around him, her hands on his chest and her head on his shoulder.

“We’re home,” he said in a quiet voice.

Clarisse nodded.

They sat in silence.

“We should go in…” Joseph said a short while later. “Before Charlotte gets worried…”

Clarisse nodded again. “Yes…”

Joseph sighed then climbed off the bike. He turned to Clarisse, wrapped his arms around her and they shared a short but passion-filled kiss. “Will I see you tonight?”

“Of course,” Clarisse answered. “You didn’t really think you could propose to me and not expect to spend the night with me, did you?”

Joseph chuckled. “Do you think we can skip dinner, and go make love in the shower?”

“I wish we could.”

Joseph sighed dramatically. “Ah well…”

“There is always after dinner.”

Joseph grinned. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Now… could you help me off?” Clarisse grimaced slightly as she pulled her knee up with her hands. Joseph gripped her foot and helped swing it over the gas tank then wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to her feet.

“Stiff from too much riding on the bike?”

“Stiff from riding you on the bike.” 

The grin on Joseph’s face grew, and stayed there as they made their way out of the garage, and walked across the yard to the palace.

They entered the palace to find Charlotte, and the queen’s ladies maids waiting for them. There were soft gasps from the maids at the sight of their sovereign in laced-up leather pants.

“Your Majesty,” Charlotte smiled at her queen as she and the ladies maids curtsied. She turned her smile to Joseph. “Welcome home, Joseph.”

“Thank you,” Joseph smiled at the younger woman.

“Did you have a good ride?”

Clarisse and Joseph shared a look then turned back to Charlotte.

“Yes, as a matter of fact we did,” Clarisse answered.

“Her Majesty is a very skilled rider,” Joseph said with obvious pride in her voice then turned a stern face on the giggling maids who quickly stifled their laughter.

“Dinner is ready for you, your Majesty,” Charlotte told her, also giving the maids a look.

“Thank you, Charlotte.” Clarisse said as she turned and began to walk down the hall; Joseph, Charlotte and the maids following. “I do believe that I am quite famished. I would never have believed that… bike-riding… could work up such an appetite.”

“Would her Majesty like to dine in the dining room this evening?” Charlotte asked.

“No,” Clarisse shook her head. “My suite will be fine.”

“Your Majesty, would you like for us to draw you a bath?” Olivia called out just as the group reached the queen’s rooms.

Clarisse paused with her hand on the door handle then looked back at her maids. “No. I think I will eat first then simply take a shower and go to bed early. In fact… you both may have the rest of the night off.”

“But your…” they began together then stopped.

“Thank you, your Majesty.” Olivia said as she and Priscilla curtsied then turned and quickly made their way back down the hall, giggling.

Charlotte shook her head. “I will bring your dinner right away, your Majesty. A tray for two?”

Clarisse nodded. “Yes. Thank you, Charlotte.”

“You’re welcome, your Majesty.” Charlotte smiled then turned and headed down the hall towards the kitchen.

“Alone again at last,” Joseph said as he stepped closer to his queen and covered her hand with his own where it still rested on the door handle. He turned it and pushed the door open then stepped inside the suite, pulling Clarisse with him and closing the door behind him. “I do believe we have some celebrating to do.”

Clarisse quickly found her naked back pressed up against that door, her jacket stripped from her body by Joseph’s competent hands. Joseph pressed his full length against her and she gasped at the size of his erection pressing against her hips.

“Already?” She gasped between kisses.

“Always when you are around.” Joseph replied as he flipped the lock on the door.

“Joseph… Charlotte… our dinner…”

“Charlotte is a smart woman,” Joseph said as he nibbled his way along her jaw.

“But I thought… shower… we were going to take a shower.” Clarisse moaned as Joseph’s lips attacked the smooth skin of her throat.

“We are…” Joseph muttered, his words sending a thrilling vibration through the rosy nipple his mouth was wrapped around. “Eventually.”


	3. Drive Me Crazy Forever

“Bye, Grandma, Joe!” Mia hugged them tightly. 

“Thank you, Mia,” they both murmured. “Thank you for today.”

“SOMEONE had to do something, ’cause you certainly weren’t getting anywhere on your own!” Mia grimaced. “Right, Charlotte?”

Charlotte looked embarrassed and murmured her own good wishes and goodbyes before retreating. 

“See you in a couple of days, remember!” Mia warned them. “We have to get this coronation thing organized! Oh, and since you have a long trip to Mertz, and the limo has that neat DVD player in the back seat, I’ve put a movie in for you to watch on the way. I hope you don’t mind. I loved it. I thought maybe the scary parts might have Grandma cuddling up to you ...”

“May we go, Princess?” Joseph asked politely.

Mia laughed. “Off you go, Gramps! Love you! Just not as much as Grandma does ...”

“Mia!” Clarisse flushed unaccountably, and turned away.

At that moment, just before she got into the limousine, a uniformed man was escorted up by Shades. “Your Majesty? Queen Clarisse?”

“Yes?” Clarisse turned back.

“I don’t know if you remember me ...” the man began.

Clarisse studied him for a moment. He DID look familiar, but ... Then Joseph smiled and put out his hand. “Ranger Smith!”

“Congratulations, Your Majesty, Mr. Ferreira! Like the rest of the country, I was very happy about the events of today! Of course, I had a little prior knowledge about you two ...” and the ranger winked.

Trying heroically to control her blushes, Clarisse merely smiled a trifle frostily at him. Then he handed her a paper bag with the park logo on it. “I believe this is yours, your Majesty. I’m sorry we haven’t returned it before now. Perhaps it might be useful to you again at some point. It appears it worked out all right.”

Puzzled, Clarisse nevertheless accepted the bag, and said her final goodbyes to Mia. The driver, Georges, put up the privacy screen with a sympathetic grin, and they were off. 

Still finding it hard to believe that she was actually married to Joseph, Clarisse sat quietly for a moment before turning to Joseph. “I really do love you, you know. I have for a long time now, and I always will.”

His arms were around her, and his lips on hers. Clarisse melted into his embrace, dropping the bag and only barely registering that it fell off the seat and onto the floor. In the background, she dimly heard voices and music, but paid no attention to the movie Mia had started. Instead, she concentrated on loving her husband to the best of her considerable ability.

His hands found the zipper at the back of her dress, and slowly unfastened it even as his kisses drew the breath from her body. Slipping the dress off her shoulders, his fingers traced around the lacy cup of her bra and she gasped.

“Take it off!” she panted. When he hesitated, her hands left his shoulders and quickly unfastened it, dropping it behind her. 

“We,” he said, as he held her hips firmly, “are going to go very slowly.” He saw her smile deepen.

“Must we? I already feel as though I have been waiting all my life for this night,” she said, candidly.

He looked at her almost fiercely. “It is not wise to say such things under these circumstances. You might at least wait until we were safely ensconced in our hotel room!”

“Oh, forgive me. I bow to your superior wisdom.” Laughter rose in her, little bubbles of happiness bursting on the surface of the miracle that was happening. 

“Your majesty, no matter how hard you try, you will not undo me!” he scowled, but his eyes were twinkling.

She clasped his face between her hands and arched so that her nipples brushed the hard wall of his chest. “I am already undone. It is only fair that you join me.”

“Already?” His smile finally matched her own. He grasped her dress and quickly flung it off over her head. She parted her legs and settled further onto him, making a place for him between them. Joseph groaned. “I need to touch you ...”

“So do I ...” Her hands were on his, urging him to touch his fill. 

His hand trembled as he reached out, staring at what was revealed to him. “You are exquisite,” he said, thickly. He had known feminine beauty in many forms, he had known HER beauty, but never had her loveliness moved him as it did now that she was his in the eyes of the entire world. His desire for her was acutely physical and vastly more. He wanted her here and now ... and a thousand years hence. He had loved her and would continue to love her, forever.

She raised herself up a bit on her knees, facing him with pride and just the smallest shadow of embarrassment he found endearing as she triumphed over it. “I think you should know,” she murmured, “I am not a particularly patient woman.” And with that, her slim but surprisingly strong hands hurriedly helped him undress. “Oh, my ... I ... I’d forgotten.” Her gaze drifted over him hungrily. “Joseph, you are ... superb.”

“Clarisse, we are in the back of the LIMOUSINE!! Georges is only a few feet away! You, my dear, are utterly shameless.”

“Oh, I sincerely hope so.”

His laughter exploded. He hugged her close, delighted and relieved all at once. What a woman! Beautiful, intelligent, provocative, daring ... he would have to remember how he appreciated her daring next time she did something foolhardy. For the moment, it was enough to see her enchanting smile. Well, no, not really enough. Not even remotely. Gently, but implacably, he lowered her back onto the leather seat. “Being undone,” he murmured as he cupped her breasts, his tongue grazing over her distended nipples before sucking first one, then the other, “may involve more than you suspect.”

“More ... really? JOSEPH ...!” she arched against the hard wall of his body. 

“You know, I remember reading someplace that some women are aroused by the feeling of their breasts and that that arousal is permissible in younger women. Are you considered a younger woman, my dear?”

“Joseph Ferreira!” she exploded, and he felt his control slipping at the touch of her hands and her lips on him.

Sheer survival drove him to take her mouth hard and fast, thrusting his tongue into her as he reached down between her silken thighs and found unerringly what he sought. There he stroked, again and again, as his tongue moved to the same rhythm, as her skin heated against his, as she bucked and moaned, and finally as the coils of every tightening pressure released suddenly, hurling her into ecstasy.

When she finally drifted back to earth again, she was aware of the movie continuing. “This movie is about a giant SHARK?” she asked in disbelief, staring at the small screen. “WHY would Mia want us to watch ...?”

“Maybe for this part,” Joseph grinned as, on the screen, a woman came into the room where a man was leafing through various books on sharks. She sat on the floor between the man’s legs, passing him a drink, leaning back against him then said, to him, ‘Wanna get drunk and fool around?’

Clarisse giggled. “So, Joseph, wanna ignore the movie and fool around?" 

“Ignore the movie?” He pretended shock. “What would Mia, or Lilly, for that matter, say about the rights of sharks ...?”

She sat up and her lips moved closer to his waiting ones. “Right now I’m about to assert my womanly rights over you.”

He grinned. “That will be my pleasure, your Majesty.”

Running her hands down his chest, Clarisse let her fingernails graze over him until she reached his hips. Then, allowing her hands to encircle him, she smiled at his gasp of surprise. “It WILL be your pleasure, sir,” she said confidently. “And mine.” With a courage she had not known she possessed, a courage born of her great love for him and the knowledge that her love was returned, she moved onto his lap facing him, her legs bent on either side of his body. The position was shockingly intimate, all the more so as his hardness probed her swollen, sensitive folds. Her hunger for him was as great as his for her. Slowly she lowered herself. Sweet, enticing frustration rose in both lovers. They had to have more ... they HAD to. The powerful inner muscles of her body clenched around him, drawing him deeper. He gasped, his hands coming up almost automatically to her breasts, stroking and pulling the nipples to tight, aching buds. Clarisse trembled, then rocked on him harder, her eyes on his. 

He pressed up as she plunged down, and they sighed with deep satisfaction. As he pulled out, she ached to have him back. She pulled him to her as he thrust forward again, penetrating deeply. He felt her full embrace and she cried out with her joy. It was beyond delight, more than pleasure. Then the powerful, shuddering waves seized them, crashed over them and she shattered against him, exploding suddenly, exquisitely, into shimmering fragments, pulses of energy coursing down through her flesh, through her veins, her cells, through her heart and soul. In the next instant, he followed her, overwhelmed by the full force of his passion for this woman ... this woman who held his heart firmly in her loving hands. 

Time passed; they had no idea how long. Chronological time had lost all meaning, and there was nothing in the world except the two of them becoming one, forever. They rested, entangled in each other’s arms, and deep, abiding contentment filled them. This was meant to be. This was their forever. There had been so many lonely, empty years for them both.

“Joseph?” Clarisse whispered. “We’ve steamed up the windows.”

“Hmmhmm.” His tongue slid against hers in a primitive rhythm that brought a whimper from her throat.

His lips brushed hers, then he nipped her lower lip lightly as he coaxed and teased. She nibbled at his lip in return, feeling the brush of his goatee tickling her, and the erotic sensation of his tongue touching hers. They took their sweet time and Clarisse was boneless by the time he lifted his head.

“You are very sexy, your Majesty,” he murmured, nuzzling her ear.

“I would say YOU are, Joseph,” she returned, loving the rumble in his chest when he laughed at her retort. Then she sighed. “Joseph? The windows? Do you ... do you think Georges suspects what we ...?”

He chuckled again. “I am POSITIVE he knows what we are doing during this drive.”

“Watching Mia’s movie, you mean? He could hear that ... not us, do you think?” Clarisse abandoned that distasteful thought. Suddenly she remembered the bag thrust at her by the park ranger just before they had left the palace in Pyrus. Sitting up, she rummaged to find it, and opened it. Then her face suffused with colour, she stared at the contents mutely. Her lace-up leather halter top she had lost in the park the day she and Joseph had ... engaged themselves on the motorcycle! 

Joseph roared with laughter. “No WONDER he said they had prior knowledge!” 

Feeling horribly embarrassed, Clarisse crammed the top back into the bag. “Oh, Joseph, I wonder how discreet we actually WERE? No one seemed surprised today, did you notice? Sebastian Motaz was beaming and was waiting for us when we got to the front of the church ... the Archbishop himself said, ‘FINALLY’ when I announced I wanted to marry you ...”

“Hmmm,” Joseph murmured, his lips beginning to kiss her face and throat lightly once more. He still had never told her about the Viscount’s accusation that everyone knew Joseph was courting the queen’s favour, and he had no intentions of ever mentioning it.

“Joseph? Joseph, what are you thinking? We should dress ...”

His hand was exploring the contours of her behind. “Want to go again?”

“Go? To a wedding? To watch a movie?” she teased him lightly. Then her breath whooshed out as her heartbeat sped up. Still, she struggled to retain a bit of composure and teased him again. “And really, Joseph, CAN you?”

He had never felt younger or more virile. His answer was a low growl as his lips covered her breast again. “Maybe we should go see a movie every night.” He licked and suckled her. 

Clarisse felt hot passion rising in her again. “Or not. I hate that movie.” She leaned over and her finger unerringly found the off button, her face expressing her delight when the screen went dark. 

“You’d rather have romance? Musicals? Or are you into the x-rated, erotic ones?”

“Joseph!”

Joseph traced her spine from her neck to the small of her back with his fingers. “Sex is a hell of a lot more fun to do than to watch. But what about Georges and the steamed up windows? We only have another half hour of driving time, if my memory serves me correctly.”

She moaned faintly, then whispered, “Oh, Joseph ... that drives me crazy! Please, let’s go again ... just to keep you in practice, you understand, so that,” and she flicked his nipple with her fingertips, “your performance measures up.”

With her help, ‘up’ was exactly where he was heading. “Clarisse, my darling, you are probably going to be driving me crazy forever!” Joseph grinned before losing himself in his wife once more.


End file.
